Then, on Memorial Day, runners can join a community, or walk out their front door, say the name of their honored fallen hero, and then run. Patriots head to the Wear Blue website, commit miles, 1 or 100, and then are matched with the name and story of a fallen hero. At Wear Blue, we invite our community to run or walk in honor of fallen service members. With Memorial Day only days away, we have a chance to pair our actions with this immense courage and sacrifice. We have only begun to see the scar tissue of the past decade of war. 6,882 families like mine, with their own stories, their own Johns, their own Jackson, Bryce, and Heidi's. Since 9/11, 6,882 Americans have given their lives in service to our nation in the Global War on Terror. The tricky part is, John's gift of his life, the ultimate gift for all of our freedoms, has become his children's sacrifice. John chose to be in the military, well aware of the risks it carried. The tragedy that my family faced, that many of our military families endure, is not one of chance. Q: How has participating in it and seeing others rally around the cause affected you? ![]() Authentic growth, meaningful communities, serving the needs of our military and their families, our veterans, and our families of the fallen. It's always about the right effort at the right time. Wear Blue has never been about creating something big it has always been about creating something needed. Military families are resilient, but, we recognized, when the unit returned from deployment, that they too needed a place to honor their fallen comrades, reconnect with their families, and have the community as a part of their support network moving forward. Deployment, reintegration, frequent PCS, etc. Losing a loved one is hard, but so is military life. We pounded the pavement that year, and the community on home soil joined our steps. She vowed to help me through the grieving process as a running partner. Erin brought me dinner when my daughter, Heidi, was born, and, just three weeks later, brought me dinner when John had been killed. ![]() Q: I understand you put Wear Blue together after you personally felt the pain of losing a loved one to the war on terror, but how did it evolve into what it is today?Įrin O'Connor, a fellow military spouse, and myself, had both leaned on running throughout our families' military careers. ![]() We had the opportunity to speak with Lisa about what Wear Blue means to her and how she's seen it impact and help others. The runs during official Wear Blue events include hand-held flags along the run, with large posters of the fallen service members. The groups meet weekly, and before a run they call out the name of military members killed on that weekend over the last thirteen years of war, in what they call the "Circle of Remembrance." The runners then call out the names of people they personally will run for. These active duty and retired service members, military families, Wounded Warriors, Gold Star families and community members, now runs to honor all military members killed in combat. Since Lisa and Erin had already established a support network and weekly run while the brigade was deployed, they kept it going and soon turned it into a nationwide community. Lisa's husband, CPT John Hallett, was one of the four soldiers killed during that deployment. Lisa Hallett and Erin O'Connor started Wear Blue following the losses suffered by the 5-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team while deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. ![]() As an all-volunteer organization, donations go back to funding the mission and executing programs.
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